Thursday, 30th June 2005 When Woodstock hero Country Joe McDonald left the stage with a big round of applause, the 3,000+ spectators atop the Heidecksburg were ready for the first TFF highlight 2005: The Chieftains, masters of (instrumental) Irish folk music. Their surprise guests come from Galicia: gaita master Carlos Nunez with two musicians from his regular band. Their first surprise guests, one should say as an hour into their set, Marianne Faithfull unexpectedly joins the band for a moving version of “Love Is Teasin’”. A great evening indeed.

Friday, 1st July 2005 Rain is a regular companion at Rudolstadt. This year, it came at odd times: During daylight hours on Thursday and Friday when there were no concerts. Only campers setting up their tents were getting wet; when the festival proper started at 6 pm on Friday, the sun was shining – a fitting gift by the weather gods to the festival’s 15th anniversary (or 50th if you count its predecessor, the GDR’s Tanzfeste of old). And the participants in the symposium on the great German folk song collector Woldgang Steinitz didn’t mind anyway: They were listening, in surprising great numbers, in the Old City Hall to the various lectures. Soon after its inauguration (by Thuringian minister Prof. Goebel), the crowd spread out to attend the various concerts. In the theatre, they were stunned by the great voices of Mariana Baraj (Argentina) and Miquel Gil (Spain); in Heine-Park, they danced to a six-pack of Brazilian acts, while those who stayed at the Market Place went berserk about the groove of the festival’s annual instrument project which was dedicated to the electric guitar: Especially Haig Yazdjian (Armenia) on electric oud and Enver Izmailov (Ukraine) on guitar added to the quality of the 2-hour show. The star of the evening, though, was Marianne Faithfull: Hardly moving, she concentrated all her energy on her voice and the lyrics. More than 7,000 fans – most likely the largest-ever crowd the Heidecksburg has ever seen in its century-long history – were intrigued by the intensity of her performance. When her performance ended, it was almost 1.30 in the night. Marcelo D2’s samba-hiphop then lead the way down into the park where Djane Grace Kelly and Banda Furiosa, a Berlin-based band of Brazilian immigrants, supported a  party that only ended when the sun was about to rise.

Saturday, 2nd July 2005 Rudolstadt has some 25,000 inhabitants. For the first time, TFF attracted more people to the festival: Officially, 26,100 people attended the concerts on Saturday. 16,600 had bought weekend tickets (2,000 more than in 2004), the remaining 9,500 followed the sun – and the programme which included on Saturday a very unique bonus (conceived by Duo Sonnenschirm’s Dieter Beckert): A nostalgic stage on the market square, a reminiscence of the old Tanzfeste, with snippets of what had happened in the GDR’s Rudolstadt between 1955 and 1989 – complete with flags, special guests from the ruling party, marches to introduce the following acts, etc. “The only thing that is getting on someone’s nerves at TFF is the problem of always having to make decisions”, is the comment of one visitor while climbing up to the Heidecksburg. Right. Brazilian percussion (Caito Marcondes) in the theatre or Mediterranean polyphony (Lo Cor de la plana) in the concert tent? Staying there for Les haulz et les baz and their Medieval brass music, or returning to the church for a second concert with polyphony, this time from Southern Albania with Jonianet? Or drifting away in the easy-going grooves of three acoustic guitars (Trii-Continental)? Later the same day the same problem: Heine-Park with Turkey’s leading ensemble Kardes Türküler and desert rockers Giant Sand, or Heidecksburg where German world music award RUTH winners Biermösl Blosn and Rabih Abou-Khalil are performing? Difficult decisions to make before one was allowed to dance the night away: Sergent Garcia (FRA), The Original Danish Polcalypso Orchestra (DEN), Newcomer RUTH award winner Nomad SoundSystem perform on differenst stages until well after 4 in the morning. And for those who still wanted to go on, DJane Grace Kelly and Eastenders (feat. Sultan Tunc) from Frankfurt continued until breakfast was being served.

Sunday, 3rd July 2005 High noon in Rudolstadt. A bit cooler than the day before but still no rain. Even those who had danced through the night seem to be fit for the finale of the festival. Sunday morning is the time to swap experiences – who were the highlights, who were the discoveries – which band was a must-see? Do they play again (almost all bands at Rudolstadt perform twice)? Is there something not to be missed this afternoon? Most people stay on; some have to leave because they have to be back at work on early Monday morning. They hope that they can see and hear what they might’ve missed in the radio and TV broadcasts that will follow: 120 media accreditations cover all of Germany, and also Luxemburg, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and even Canada. Public TV station MDR has collected material for two major productions, local radios and newspapers (including renowned German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and weekly Die Zeit) will report about the event. And about record-breaking numbers: 65,00 visitors in 3 days mean 5,000 people more compared to last year; the 20,000 litres of (Köstritzer) beer can be compared to long years in sprint when 10 seconds for 100 metres seemed to be an unbreakable barrier. Although this sounds like running for new records, and although Rudolstadt may have the space to accept (a few) more visitors, the festival team keeps on putting quality first - with eventually a “big” name here and there. You’ll find out: 7-9 July 2006 Country focus: France Magic Instrument: Pipes Dance: Tango

2005 Artists and Members ... ... on Stage: Rabih Abou-Khalil (LEB, GER), Artis The Spoonman (USA), Mariana Baraj (ARG), Frank Bettenhausen & Ensemble (GER), Biermösl Blosn (GER), Brummtopf (GER), Country Joe McDonald, DAAU (BEL), Duo Sonnenschirm (GER), Eastenders (GER+), Eläkeläiset (FIN), Marianne Faithfull, Sergent Garcia (FRA), Giant Sand, Miquel Gil (ESP), Global.Kryner (AUT), Hemållt på Fläck (SWE), Takashi Hirayasu & Ken Ohtake (JAP), Enver Ismailov (USB), Jonianet (ALB), Käptn Kümos Marching Band (GER), Kardes Türküler (TUR), Jackson Kaujeua (NAM), Lance & Donna (USA), Pascal Leufeuvre & German Diaz (FRA/ESP), Les haulz et les bas (GER+), Lo Cor de la Plana (FRA), Malbrook (GER), Cass Meurig (GBR), Nomad Sound System (GER), Original Danish Polcalypso Orchestra (DEN), Jim Page (USA), Plocek & Suranská (CZE), Ranarim (SWE), Darko Rundek & Cargo Orkestar (HRO/FRA), Daniel Owino Misiani & Shirati Jazz (KEN), Tango Crash (GER), Tri-Continental (CAN/GBR/MAD), Tulli Lum (EST), Sheng Xiang & Water 3 (TWN), Haïg Yazdjian Quartet (ARM/GRE) ... at Country Special - Brazil: Aja Trio, Banda Furiosa, Berimbrown, Renato Borghetti, DJ Grace Kelly, Caito Marcondes, MarceloD2, Marlui Miranda, Silvério Pessoa ... as Magic-E-Guitar player: Takashi Hirayasu & Ken Ohtake (JAP), Lance Harrison (USA), Hellmut Hattler (GER), Enver Ismailov (USB), Bo Lindberg (SWE), Daniel Owino Misiani (KEN, Alan Prosser (GBR), Haïg Yazdjian (ARM/GRE) und Snorre Schwarz (GER) am Schlagzeug ... as Buskers: Mandolinenorchester Wanderlust, Äl Jawala, Die Autobahnkapelle, Die Vielen, Bluesouthern, Chicken Rag, Ersatzkapelle, Fiddle Folk Family, Florentine goes Fishing, Alex Jacobowitz, Trio plus, Knoten 46, Frieda!, Disse Tied, On The Fritz, Percussão Popular, La Piccola Banda, Polynushka, Querbeet & Freunde, Rainhas do Norte, Rumpelstolz, Mbonda Lokito, Thomsen Brothers, Thüringer Spielleut, Fräulein Winkelmann, Tre smaa grise, Trillke Trio, Die Vorhölle, WARU, Zartgesottene Melodealer ... at Dance stages: AedO (BEL), ajaduo (BRA), ajatrio (BRA), AOK (GER), Compagnie Théâtre Éclair (BFA), Danzlüd ut Wismar (GER), Sigi Doberenz, Eka & Eva (GER), Hemållt (SWE), Mike James & Yves Leblanc (WAL/FRA), Kurázsi Folk Dance Group (HUN), The Playfords (GER), PolkaProjektBand mit Sigi Doberenz (GER), Ssassa (SUI), Tanz- und Speeldeel Ihna (GER), Thüringer Folkloretanzensemble Rudolstadt (GER), Twm Twp (WAL), Jivana Vajsarová & Co. (CZE) ... as Referee at the symposium: Eckhard John (Freiburg; Konzeption und inhaltliche Leitung), Barbara Boock (Freiburg) Peter Fauser (Erfurt), Nora Guthrie (New York), Bernhard Hanneken (Freising), Konrad Köstlin (Wien), Annette Leo (Berlin), Thomas Phleps (Kassel), David Robb (Belfast), Doris Stockmann (Berlin), Tobias Widmaier (Kaiserslautern), Jürgen B. Wolff (Leipzig) u.a.